Lords of the Fallen Best Starting Class for New Players

For most first playthroughs, the best starting class in Lords of the Fallen is the Hallowed Knight: it begins with a sword, a shield, heavy armor and the highest Endurance of the nine standard classes, which makes the early areas far more forgiving. If you want magic from minute one, the Orian Preacher (Radiance) and Pyric Cultist (Inferno) are the clear picks, while the Udirangr Warwolf and Exiled Stalker suit players who already know soulslike combat. Your class only sets starting stats and gear, so no choice locks you out of a build forever.

We checked every number below against the Fextralife class and respec pages, CI Games' own 60-tip beginner guide on Steam, and the official patch notes, all reviewed in November 2026 with the game on its final 2.5 version.

What Your Starting Class Actually Decides

Choosing a class in Lords of the Fallen sets three things: your starting level, how your points are spread across the six attributes, and the weapons, armor and consumables you carry out of the Defiled Sepulchre. The six attributes are Strength, Agility, Endurance, Vitality, Radiance and Inferno. Endurance governs stamina, equip weight and ammo capacity, Vitality governs health, weight and ammo capacity, and Radiance and Inferno feed your mana and unlock the two spell-heavy schools.

Every class also starts with the same three key items: the Lampbearer's Rosary, the Umbral Lamp and the Sanguinarix, your healing flask. That shared kit is why the class decision matters less than in some older soulslikes. CI Games says it plainly in its official beginner tips: the class defines your early stats and equipment, but it is not a permanent choice, because you can steer the character anywhere by leveling.

There is one detail that makes the pick matter a little more than that advice suggests. When you respec later, the game will not let any attribute drop below the value your class started with. A Pyric Cultist who later becomes a pure Strength fighter will always carry those 18 Inferno points as dead weight. Picking a class whose high stats match your long-term plan is the closest thing this game has to min-maxing.

The Nine Standard Classes Side by Side

The table below lists the starting level and attribute spread of each class you can choose on a fresh save. Higher totals are not automatically better; a low starting level means cheaper level-ups early on, and points sitting in a stat you will never use are wasted.

Lords of the Fallen starting classes: level and attributes (Fextralife, November 2026)

Class	Level	STR	AGI	END	VIT	RAD	INF
Hallowed Knight	10	12	8	15	11	9	8
Udirangr Warwolf	12	16	10	13	10	8	8
Partisan	12	13	12	12	12	8	8
Mournstead Infantry	12	12	14	12	11	8	8
Blackfeather Ranger	8	11	13	11	10	8	8
Exiled Stalker	10	9	16	11	11	8	8
Orian Preacher	11	10	8	9	11	18	8
Pyric Cultist	10	9	8	11	9	8	18
Condemned	1	9	9	9	9	9	9

A few patterns jump out. The Warwolf has the most raw Strength, the Stalker has the most Agility, and the two casters each put 18 points into a single magic stat. The Partisan is the most evenly spread fighter, and the Blackfeather Ranger starts at level 8, the lowest of any combat class.

Best Starting Class by Playstyle

Here is how each class plays in practice, based on the gear it carries out of the tutorial. Match the description to the way you like to fight rather than chasing whichever class looks strongest on paper.

• Hallowed Knight (best for beginners): Hallowed Knight Sword and Shield plus a full heavy set. With 15 Endurance you can block, dodge and swing longer than anyone else at the start, and the shield soaks the wither damage that blocking with a weapon would leave on your health bar.
• Partisan (best all-rounder): a flail, a shield and the Partisan Crossbow with Rived Bolts. Balanced 12 to 13 points in every physical stat means almost any early weapon you find is usable.
• Mournstead Infantry: a spear, a shield and a Short Javelin. The reach of the spear lets you poke from behind your guard, a comfortable style for cautious players.
• Udirangr Warwolf: a big Strength sword, a Bloody Hatchet and Minor Fire Salts, but no shield. High damage, high risk, best for players who already dodge well.
• Exiled Stalker: two daggers, a Lacerating Knife and Poison Salts. Fast and fragile, built around status buildup and parrying.
• Blackfeather Ranger: an axe, a shield and a bow with Oak Arrows. A good start for archery fans, since bows reward headshots with extra damage.
• Orian Preacher: a hammer, a shield, a Radiance catalyst and the Radiant Flare spell. Holy damage and buffs on a sturdy frame.
• Pyric Cultist: a staff and an Inferno catalyst. Pure fire caster who needs to keep distance early.

Notice what is missing from that list: a dedicated Umbral caster. None of the nine standard classes starts with an Umbral catalyst, so players who want that school usually pick a fighter and buy the Charm of Fortune's Sight, an Umbral catalyst sold by Molhu, which the developers themselves recommend as a head start into spellcasting for non-magic classes. It is an easy way to try magic without committing your class to it.

If you are torn, a useful rule is to look at the weapon type you want to use at the end of the game and start in the class that already has points in its scaling stat. That keeps the wasted-points problem to a minimum when you later settle into one of the strongest builds after the final 2.5 update.

The Condemned and the Dark Crusader

Two classes break the usual rules. The Condemned starts at level 1 with 9 points in every attribute, wearing a Head Cage and carrying a Broken Bucket and a Throwing Rock. It also gets none of the class-specific items the others bring, only the three shared key items. Because every point is spent by you, it is technically the most efficient class for a planned build, but the first hour is brutal, so it is better as a second-run challenge than a first-run pick.

The Dark Crusader is the tenth class. According to CI Games' official tips, Deluxe Edition owners can choose it on the very first playthrough, while Standard Edition players unlock it by completing a hidden questline, after which it is available on future runs. Fextralife lists it at starting level 14 with Paladin Isaac's Sword, a Radiantburst Parchment and the Paladin armor. It is a strong melee start with a Radiance flavor, comparable to the Hallowed Knight but further along.

Neither class is necessary for a smooth run. If you own the Deluxe Edition, the Dark Crusader is a perfectly good choice for your first character; if not, the Hallowed Knight gives you most of the same comfort.

Classes You Unlock by Finishing the Game

Light spoiler note: this section names the three endings but not how they play out. Each ending adds one more class for future characters. Per Fextralife's New Game Plus and endings pages and CI Games' tips, the Radiance ending unlocks the Radiant Purifier, the Inferno ending unlocks the Lord, and the Umbral ending unlocks the Putrid Child.

These are late-game starts with large starting levels: Fextralife lists the Lord at 23, the Radiant Purifier at 22 and the Putrid Child at 15, each with its own catalyst and five Large Manastone Clusters. They are fun for a fresh character once you have seen the story, but they cannot be picked on a first save, so they should not factor into your opening decision.

Early Leveling Tips That Matter More Than the Class

CI Games' own advice for new players is to put early Vigor into Vitality and Endurance, the stats that let you survive mistakes and keep stamina for dodging. That is good advice for every class, casters included, since a fire mage with 9 Vitality dies to almost any stray hit.

• Do not ignore magic on a melee character. The developers point out that a few points in Radiance or Inferno unlock useful spells, and the second-anniversary patch (v2.0.101) lowered stat requirements on several early spells and made casting faster.
• Use a shield while you learn. Blocking with a heavy shield converts far less health into wither damage than blocking with a light weapon.
• Do not panic about a bad pick. A Rebirth Chrysalis lets you reassign every level point; our step-by-step respec guide covers where to buy one and what the floor rules mean for your class.
• Invest in your weapon, not just your stats. Upgrading at the blacksmith often adds more damage than a level-up; see how weapon upgrades to +10 work.

Finally, if the opening hours feel too punishing regardless of class, remember that the game has tools beyond your starting gear, from NPC summons on the first attempt at a boss to optional modifiers. Our breakdown of difficulty settings and game modifiers explains every lever you can pull.

Starting With Everything Unlocked

Some players would rather test every class and weapon combination without spending a full playthrough collecting the gear first. For that, the store's All Unlocks modded save applies a save that includes all weapons (ranged included), all armor including PvP sets, all rings, spells, runes, pendants, Umbral Eyes and tincts, consumables and upgrade materials, plus a 300 million Vigor bonus. It is an account-share service: you must already own the game, the page lists PlayStation and PC accounts, and you provide your login so the save can be applied to your profile.

The rest of the store's Lords of the Fallen options, including a Vigor and armor drop service that needs no account details, are listed on the Lords of the Fallen hub.

Frequently Asked Questions